Interviews

Published on May 15th, 2018 | by Darren Paltrowitz

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Deep Purple’s Don Airey On His “One Of A Kind” Solo Album & Working With Many Rock Greats

If you listen to classic rock radio, odds are that you have heard a lot of Don Airey’s work. Prior to joining Deep Purple as Jon Lord’s replacement, Airey had played keyboards for likes of Ozzy Osbourne, Rainbow, Whitesnake, Judas Priest, Gary Moore, Jethro Tull, Black Sabbath, and Queen’s Brian May. While Airey has been a full-time member of Deep Purple for over 15 years, he has not halted his solo career, and is about to release another full-length album on May 25th. One Of A Kind is that new album, and it features contributions from Nazareth vocalist Carl Sentance, bassist Laurence Cottle (who has played with Sabbath and Chick Corea), drummer Jon Finnigan, and guitarist Simon McBride.

Last month, Deep Purple announced a co-headlining summer arena tour alongside the aforementioned Judas Priest. In advance of that tour — and the release of One Of A Kind — I had the pleasure of doing Q&A with Mr. Airey. More on Don Airey can be found online at www.donairey.com.

I had the pleasure of seeing you with Deep Purple in Japan a little over a decade ago on what I think was one of your first tours with the band. I had heard that you were essentially retired before joining Deep Purple. Had you missed being on the road?

Don Airey: No, definitely hadn’t retired, and I was on the road as much as I wanted to be, though I was definitely thinking about spending more time at home, and taking up a teaching post. Then much to my wife’s relief, along came Purple.

When you joined Deep Purple for your first tour, did you have any idea that you were going to be a long-term fixture of the band? Had you just joined as a fill-in for one tour?

Don Airey: I was filling in for just three Scandinavian shows, whilst Jon took his wounded knee to the hospital, but three shows turned into 24. When Jon decided soon after that that he did not want to be part of the band anymore, they asked me to join. Even then I thought it would last, at best, three years.

Did you know a lot of the Deep Purple repertoire before joining the band?

Don Airey: I was very familiar with it of course — who isn’t? But it’s one thing being familiar with the songs, another actually getting up onstage and playing them with Deep Purple itself. I told Ian Paice after a couple of gigs I felt as though someone had come up behind me and banged me on the back of the head with a plank of wood.

One Of A Kind is your fifth solo album. How long did you spend writing the album?

Don Airey: The songs were written over the course of a year, with an intense session of three days in a rehearsal room when Carl Sentance and myself got Simon McBride involved in the band.

Was all of One Of A Kind recorded in the same studio?

Don Airey: All the songs were recorded and mixed by a talented young engineer by the name of Piers Mortimer at his Headline Music Studios, just outside of Cambridge, UK. It has the advantage of being quite close to my home, and situated in a beautiful village with a great pub the band could retire to after a hard day of tracking.

Do you have a favorite song on One Of A Kind?

Don Airey: Yes, “Victim Of Pain.” Carl came up with great melody and lyrics, Simon with a humungous riff, I wrote a string arrangement as well, and it’s really my attempt to create something as good as “Eyes Of The World” by Rainbow, which I played on 40 years ago!

Will you be touring in support of One Of A Kind?

Don Airey: I’m touring as I write [this]. Just made it into Prague after a 1,000 mile drive from the first gig of One Of A Kind tour in England. We play a couple of shows here in the Czech Republic then on to Austria, Holland and Germany for another 10. We’ll be featuring three, four tracks from the new album which is released May 25th, and of course a selection of the hits from over the years with Rainbow, Ozzy, Gary and co.

Beyond Deep Purple, you have been heard on recordings by many classic artists, including Brian May, Judas Priest, Whitesnake, Ozzy Osbourne, Rainbow, and Andrew Lloyd Webber. Was it ever your goal to be a full-time session player?

Don Airey: I was never a full-time session player, always based in a band. I have done a lot of varied material, working with singers such as Petula Clark, Isla St Clair, arrangers such as Paul Buckmaster, Jeff Wayne, composing synth soundtracks for travel, corporate and government documentaries, McDonald’s adverts, helping people with demos, etc etc. But rock bands have always been my main focus — more fool me! (laughs)

As one of his bandmates, you were one of the main people mentioned in Rudy Sarzo’s memoir about his Ozzy years. Do you look back at the Ozzy era of your career fondly? I ask because Rudy’s book made that period sound less than glamorous, even though we now look at Ozzy as being one of the all-time greats of rock.

Don Airey: I saw Rudy recently at the Randy Rhoads Remembered concert in L.A. and it was great to see him. With any successful rock band it is not easy to cope with the grueling side of endless travel, hanging around airports, hotel lobbies, dressing rooms, being with the same people 24/7 for months on end, but yes, I look back very fondly on the four years spent with that band. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times” as Dickens said. Though I wouldn’t want to go through it again, am very proud to have been there with such great people as Rudy, Tommy Aldridge, Ozzy and of course Randy himself.

Is there a career accomplishment you are most proud of?

Don Airey: Yes, playing at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in New York in 2016 with Deep Purple, and NOT being inducted. (laughs)

When not busy with work, how do you like to spend your free time?

Don Airey: As much as possible with my four beautiful grandchildren.

What was the last concert you attended for fun?

Don Airey: Greta Van Fleet at the Blackheart Club, Camden Town, London. They took the roof off the place.

Finally, Don, any last words for the kids?

Don Airey: If you listen, keep on rocking, if you play, keep on practicing, if you love, share it as far and wide as you can.


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About the Author

Darren Paltrowitz is a New York resident with over 20 years of entertainment industry experience. He began working around the music business as a teenager, interning for the manager of his then-favorite band Superdrag. Since then, he has worked with a wide array of artists including OK Go, They Might Be Giants, Mike Viola, Tracy Bonham, Loudness, Rachael Yamagata, and Amanda Palmer. Darren's writing has appeared in dozens of outlets including the New York Daily News, Inquisitr, The Daily Meal, The Hype Magazine, All Music Guide, Guitar World, TheStreet.com, Businessweek, Chicago Tribune, L.A. Times, and the Jewish Journal. Beyond being "Editor At Large" for The Hype Magazine, Darren is also the host of weekly "Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz" series, which airs on dozens on television and digital networks. He has also co-authored 2 published books, 2018's "Pocket Change: Your Happy Money" (Book Web Publishing) and 2019's "Good Advice From Professional Wrestling" (6623 Press), and co-hosts the world's only known podcast about David Lee Roth, "The DLR Cast."


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